Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

SpaceX Crew-3 launch delayed until Wednesday due to incoming storm

Georgina Torbet
By

NASA has announced that the launch of four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) will be delayed until Wednesday, November 3. The launch had been planned for the early morning of Sunday, October 31 for a spooky Halloween mission, but this had to be pushed back due to a storm moving across the U.S.

“NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 1:10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, November 3 for the agency’s Crew-3 launch to the International Space Station due to a large storm system meandering across the Ohio Valley and through the northeastern United States this weekend, elevating winds and waves in the Atlantic Ocean along the Crew Dragon flight path for the Oct. 31 launch attempt,” NASA wrote in an update.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts participate in a countdown dress rehearsal at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 28, 2021, to prepare for the upcoming Crew-3 launch. The astronauts are at Launch Pad 39A with the Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon behind them during the rehearsal.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts participate in a countdown dress rehearsal at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 28, 2021, to prepare for the upcoming Crew-3 launch. The astronauts are at Launch Pad 39A with the Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon behind them during the rehearsal. SpaceX

NASA had been prepared to push back the launch due to rainy conditions in Florida which would make launching risky. The launch will now go ahead early in the morning hours of Wednesday, November 3. Liftoff is scheduled for 1:10 a.m. ET on Wednesday (10:10 p.m. PT on Tuesday), which you’ll be able to watch live.

Related

The weather is forecast to have cleared by this time, according to NASA: “Weather conditions along the ascent corridor are expected to improve for a November 3 launch attempt, and the 45th Weather Squadron forecast predicts an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions at the launch site.”

Recommended Videos

The four-person crew for the Crew-3 mission consists of NASA astronauts mission commander Raja Chari, pilot Tom Marshburn, and mission specialist Kayla Barron, plus European Space Agency astronaut mission specialist Matthias Maurer. The four will join the Expedition 66 crew of the ISS, currently consisting of seven astronauts from NASA, ESA, Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Japanese Space Agency JAXA.

The station won’t remain that busy for long though. There will be 11 crew members for just a few days, before four of the Crew-2 astronauts depart from the station on November 8. The remaining seven crew members will later be joined by three more Roscosmos colleagues in March next year.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Georgina Torbet
Georgina Torbet
Space Writer
Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…
Will SpaceX’s failed Starship flight impact NASA’s moon plan?
Artist concept of the SpaceX Starship on the surface of the Moon.

SpaceX’s Starship vehicle suffered what the spaceflight company called a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” on Thursday. In other words, it blew up.

The good news is that the uncrewed rocket cleared the pad and flew for around four minutes before meeting its fiery end. It means the SpaceX team will have plenty of valuable data on the rocket's flight performance, enabling it to refine the rocket’s systems to give it an improved chance of completing the second test flight and sending the Starship to orbit.

Read more
SpaceX Starship rocket launches in first test flight, but explodes in midair
spacex starship launch explosion

SpaceX has launched its integrated Starship for the first time, with the spacecraft and rocket leaving the launchpad on a test flight. However, not everything went smoothly during the test, as the rocket exploded before the separation of the Starship spacecraft from the Super Heavy rocket booster.

The launch from SpaceX's Starbase facility at Boca Chica in Texas saw the Starship leave the launch pad at 9:33 a.m. ET, consisting of the integrated Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy Booster, which form the world's most powerful rocket. The combined Starship will be used for future missions to the moon and beyond, launched from a launch-and-catch tower standing at an impressive height of nearly 500 feet tall.

Read more
How to watch SpaceX launch record-breaking Starship rocket on Thursday
The Starship, comprising the first-stage Super Heavy and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft, on the launchpad at SpaceX's facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

Starship Flight Test

Update: SpaceX called off Monday's launch attempt due to a technical issue. It's now targeting Thursday, April 20. Full details below. 

Read more